Wednesday pop culture blogging

Item: For my money, the most interesting spin-off of the reality television explosion is the growth of shows about everyday people doing everyday jobs. The most famous, though least pure, of these is probably American Chopper, but the two I really like are Airline and Mega Movers. Speaking of Mega Movers, they moved a building a block from where I work this week and amid the road closing chaos the only frustration I could muster was for the fact that there didn't seem to be a TV crew.

Item: The new cds from DJ Shadow and The Decembrists are both pretty good, though I haven't quite figured out whether The Decembrists are recycling musical ideas they've used before or quoting themselves in some high falutin' attempt to create a symbolic language for their art.

Item: The Science of Sleep is really good and you should go see it. You should also scoff at complaints about how difficult it is to track what's really happening in the movie.